Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3426: Barack Obama, Executive Action, Gun Control and Body Language (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

This website serves as a reference source for the art and science of Body Language/Nonverbal Communication. The views and opinions expressed on this website are those of the author. In an effort to be both practical and academic, many examples from/of varied cultures, politicians, professional athletes, legal cases, public figures, etc., are cited in order to teach and illustrate both the interpretation of others’ body language as well as the projection of one’s own nonverbal skills in many different contexts – not to advance any political, religious or other agenda.

Earlier today Barack Obama announced several specific executive actions he will be initiating regarding gun control. During his speech, when he brought up the Shooting at Sandy Hook, the President shed some tears. From a body language perspective, during 1:09 - 1:11, you can see the President's jaw thrust laterally (to his left). In this cluster-context, his jaw movement is indicative of an effort (partially subconscious, partially conscious) toward the suppression of sincere tears.

Of course in this setting we can see the President is indeed crying - yet many times, a person's emotions and pre-tears status are not so obvious or seen by most people (e.g., He made a similar movement to his right during 0:14). Moreover, often times this technique (and others) work well - with eyes never turning red and with no tears are being shed (however it's profoundly valuable to have this extra level of insight into someone's psyche).

There are many other nonverbal signals commonly displayed when someone is trying not to cry. How many can you name?

Lateral Jaw Thrust Left with secondary tongue component

1:09 - 1:11

Lateral Jaw Thrust Right

0:14














See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3425: Donald Trump's first Campaign Ad Commercial

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2705: Congressman Michael Grimm Apology - Sincere or Not?

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3099: Jon Stewart Announces he's Leaving "The Daily Show" - A Classic Body Language Cluster

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3221: Gov. Nikki Haley Choking Back Tears - is She Sincere? 

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3058: Stuart Scott's ESPY Award Speech - a Common Yet Very Under-appreciated Signal of Sadness/Grief Suppression 

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2617: Walter Cronkite Announces President John Kennedy's Death - Body Language and Suppression of Grief

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2639: Denver School Shooting and a Body Language of High Empathy

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2231: A Common Facial Expression of Mass Killers - Using Body Language as a Threat Assessment Tool


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Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2254: John Boehner's Speech Today - One Major Body Language Improvement The U.S. Speaker of the House Should Make

John Boehner (R-OH) was re-elected by his republican colleagues as U.S. Speaker of the House. Of course this speech contains many nonverbals - a couple notables here:

Mr. Boehner's use of his hands is very minimal during this speech. In the world of body language, most hand-arm "gestures" are termed "Illustrators" (although other parts of the body/face can be illustrators as well) while others here fit into what are known as Manipulators, Adaptors or Pacifiers (MAPs). In general, although there are some exceptions, illustrators act to visually "underline", emphasize, accentuate, etc. simultaneous speech (although they can be used in absence of any verbal communication). Illustrators usually involve no self-touching.

MAPs involve of variations self-touching - although some examples of this category of body language may not at first glance seem to fit into this category. MAPs in general (exceptions here too) are signals of anxiety - and these can of course be greatly nuanced with added, layered meanings depending on the specific MAP and the other nonverbals with which they are clustered.

Speaker Boehner, throughout the vast majority of his speech today, used very little illustrators. Most of the time his left hand was placed on top of his right hand, with his right hand held in a loose fist. Such body language (one of many examples of a MAP) in this context is very ill-advised. Rather he would greatly benefit from skillful, congruent and relaxed use of illustrators - for they send signals of honesty, an alpha mindset, confidence and assertiveness. Together with other intangibles these qualities engender rapport. In fact, in face-to-face interactions, if a person does not use his hands, full and objective rapport is very difficult to establish. One who rarely uses his hands-arms (again in a congruent and relaxed manner) projects to her/his audience (even an audience of one) significantly reduced feelings of trust, reduced forthrightness and much less comfort-confidence. Of course, over-use, incongruent and "excessive-alpha" illustrators will backfire and also prevent and/or damage rapport - or worse.

Another under-appreciated MAP displayed several times in the above video is Mr. Boehner's short-lived biting of his right lower lip. Here his subconscious/edge of consciousness is attempting to squelch his emotions as he tries to prevent the display of happy-sad tears. This is well exemplified during the 5:06 - 5:12 segment.

Good luck to the entire 113th Congress.

See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2078: Mitt Romney's Taxes and Harry Reid's Accusations

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2121: Mitt Romney's 47 Percent - Body Language of the Hidden Video 

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2061: David Cameron Defends London Olympics against  Mitt Romney's Remarks - Alpha Dominance and Illustrators - Matching Hands and Feet as Sincerity Amplifiers

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2052: Dialing Up Empathy and Sincerity - Mitt Romney's & Barack Obama's Response to  Aurora, Colorado "Batman Shooting" 

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2150: Body Language Advice for President Obama and Governor Romney in Tonight's Debate

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 1915: Mitt Romney's Response to Supreme Court's Decision on "Obamacare"

Negotiation Nonverbal Communication Secret # 1083: Brewer's Body Language MAPs Flag Foreboding

Negotiation Body Language Secret # 199:  When a Lie is Told, Heard or Visualized by ....Vladimir's Eye
 

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2063: Mitt Romney and Ed Miliband - Under Used and Backfiring Uses of Hands

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Negotiation Nonverbal Communication Secret # 1138: Jennifer Hudson's Whitney Houston Tribute

Jennifer Hudson's tribute to Whitney Houston at the 2012 Grammy's Sunday night was very moving. Ms. Hudson's performance was incredible - not only because of her beautiful voice and the personalized lyrical additions towards the end of "I Will Always Love You", but also because of her very human-emotional displays which of course, provoked strong feelings of grief-sadness-empathy in all who witnessed and heard her performance.

In the image above, Ms. Hudson shows us an "Inward Lip Roll" (aka ILR) which is a common nonverbal seen when there is an effort to "hold in" strong (usually negative) emotions. She knew Whitney personally, so her sadness-grief was certainly more strongly felt than most other performers would be in her shoes. Her eyelid closure at this same moment shows even more of an attempt on the unconsciousness's part to sequester sadness.

In the next image (below), Jennifer adopts a prayer/pseudo-prayer emblem with her hands. Although Ms. Hudson's faith is unknown to me/most of us, depending on the other Body Language it's clustered with, it can indicate several different emotional states. When we look at her facial characteristics - e.g., her slightly upturned inner (medial) eyebrows, chin wrinkling, lateral-mouth tension with a slight down-turning of the mouth's corners - all project solid emotional characteristics of sadness. 

In addition, in this context, her elbows-in configuration (held close to her sides) gives us an additional signal of low-comfort/sadness.

Often when a person is attempting to hold back tears and reign in a sadness, their mid-face will display a vertical and horizontal stretching-tension. This is extremely common. It's easy to spot if you know what to look for - the nasal flaring (dilation) and tightening of the "mustache area" is a neon light for her effort to hold back tears.

In this final image (below), Ms. Hudson transitions further to a mouth covering just after the pray/pseudo-prayer emblem noted above. This particular gesture has a very high sincerity quotient. When you see it displayed, especially when clustered with other body language as we see here, there is an extreme amount of empathy being experienced. If it is preceded by, or coexists with surprise and/or fear, it can indicate shock-disbelief.

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